Cross-Fertilization; or, Hybrid Vigour

According to the Missale Cartusiense (1981), which sets out the modern Carthusian form of the Roman Mass, when those holy religious celebrate Mass, amongst other peculiarities, they normally say the Eucharistic Prayer secretly (unless at a concelebration, for example), and for obvious reasons there are no Memorial Acclamations included in their form of Mass; also, at the end of Mass, the Carthusian priest still says the Placeat (in the form proper to the Order).

Now, in the new form of Mass drawn up for the use of the Ordinariates, a larger array of Traditional elements are now incorporated into this particular form of the modern Roman Rite. Most notably, at the choice of the celebrant, Mass may begin with the old prayers at the foot of the altar (strangely ending with Aures tuæ pietatis in place of Aufer a nobis), the former form of the Offertory may be used, and the Last Gospel may be read. The embolism after the Lord's Prayer follows the immemorial wording, although using the modern doxology; there is a threefold repetition of the Domine, non sum dignus; and the words of administration of the Sacrament closely resemble the traditional formulæ. Furthermore, rubrics direct the making the sign of the Cross at the end of the Gloria in excels is, genuflecting at the mention of the Incarnation in the Creed and making the sign of the Cross at the end of the Creed, and at the Benedictus, genuflecting again at the mention of the enfleshment of the Word in the Last Gospel.

Combining these noteworthy features of both variants, a list of desired options and reforms for implementation at Mass throughout the whole modern Roman Rite can be drawn up: it would constitute a real cross-fertilisation of the Ordinary with the Extraordinary Form, producing a new offspring possessed of hybrid vigour.

Ought not someone draw up a petition, and implore the Vatican to reform the liturgical reform by providing such a supplemented and corrected Order of Mass?

Liturgical Ethos of the Ordinariate

The Mater et caput of all the Personal Ordinariates is surely that of Our Lady of Walsingham for England and Wales (and Scotland): its Ordinary, Monsignor Keith Newton, has recently issued Guidelines for the Celebration of the Holy Eucharist in the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, which, inasmuch as they well promote the liturgical ethos of the groups of Anglicans that have come into full communion with the Catholic Church, may with profit be studied and emulated, not just in the other two Ordinariates, mutatis mutandis, but throughout the wider Latin Rite of the Universal Church.

Some of the more notable points in the Introduction and Norms of these Guidelines are:

1. Without excluding liturgical celebrations according to the Roman Rite, the Customary of Our Lady of Walsingham and the Book of Divine Worship [Rite One only – cf. 2.] are the current liturgical texts, for the Office and for Holy Mass, proper to the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, as indicated by the faculty given (cf. AC III). 

3. Liturgical celebrations should always take into account the desire of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus, for the maintenance of the traditions of the Anglican Communion within the Catholic Church (cf. AC III). This should be evident in all aspects of liturgical celebration, whether according to the Book of Divine Worship or the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, not least in the choice of sacred music and vesture. 

5. Where the dynamic of the building allows it, the ancient practice of ad orientem celebration is commended. 

6. Where versus populum celebration of the sacred liturgy is necessary, the placing of a standing crucifix with the corpus turned towards the celebrant, in the centre of the altar, is commended. 

9. Where it is possible, Sundays, solemnities, and some feasts (e.g. Candlemas, Ash Wednesday, Annunciation, Visitation, Transfiguration, Holy Cross, Blessed John Henry Newman, All Souls) should be celebrated in a more solemn form, with the use of incense and music. 

10. The Roman Canon (Eucharistic Prayer I) is highly commended for use, not simply on Sundays or solemnities. This prayer is a particular sign of continuity with the Uses in force in the Church in England before the Reformation.

Whether, at Mass, either the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, or the Book of Divine Worship is used, the Anglican Patrimony, that treasure to be preserved and indeed shared with the wider Church (as Benedict XVI put it), ought be evident in the liturgical ethos and atmosphere, in all aspects, "not least in the choice of sacred music and vesture": and by "vesture" I daresay the use of beautiful and dignified vestments, not cheap polyester ponchos, but those of a higher quality, as favoured by Benedict XVI of happy memory, is suggested, as also the use of cassock and surplice by servers, not sacklike albs for all and sundry.

Furthermore, on all Sundays, solemnities and some feasts, incense and music ought be employed where possible. The eastward position is recommended to be used, if the physical layout of the church building allow it; however, as happens, if this is not possible (here in Australia, the church of the Ordinariate parish in Melbourne has an altar that has been moved forward, so that it is impossible to say Mass ad orientem), then the so-called Benedictine arrangement ought be used.  The use of the Roman Canon is highly encouraged, not merely on Sundays and solemnities, but on all occasions.

Quite frankly, if only ordinary Masses across the wider Roman Rite were conducted in such a manner! There would indeed be a hermeneutic of continuity employed. The Roman canon, incense, music, celebration ad orientem... this would gladden the hearts of the New Liturgical Movement.

The Guidelines then detail recommendations about Sacred Music:

15. The use of sacred music is integral to the celebration of the sacred liturgy. As such priority should be given to the liturgical texts as found in the liturgical books (cf. GIRM §48) and to the use of plainchant (cf. GIRM §41). 

16. The priest or deacon should sing those parts of the rite indicated by the rubrics to a varying degree dependent on the solemnity of the occasion. 

17. Well-chosen hymns have a particular role in Anglican liturgical patrimony and in recent years have almost displaced the singing of the Propers. The Anglican Use Gradual, successor to the English Gradual, is a simple tool for the recovery of the singing of the Propers and is highly commended. 

18. The sung proclamation of the gospel is commended when the prayers of the Mass are sung and especially at celebrations of particular solemnity. 

19. It is desirable that the faithful know how to sing together at least some parts of the Ordinary of the Mass in Latin, especially the Profession of Faith and the Lord’s Prayer, as a sign of our unity with the wider Church (cf. GIRM §41). 

20. Each Ordinariate Group should be well-versed with the plainchant setting of the Ordinary of the Mass found in the English translation of the Third Typical Edition of the Roman Missal. Where this is employed in celebrations according to the Book of Divine Worship, the Greek/Latin is used. 

21. Mass VIII (Missa de Angelis) in Latin, Credo I and Credo III, and the Lord’s Prayer set by John Merbecke are highly commended for use. In celebrations according to the Book of Divine Worship where a congregational setting of the Ordinary of the Mass is used, John Merbecke’s setting and the Anglican Folk Mass by Martin Shaw are highly commended. 

22. Certain plainchant hymns, proses, and anthems in English should be known by the faithful of the Personal Ordinariate (e.g. the seasonal Office Hymns, Advent and Lent Prose). It is good that the seasonal Marian antiphons are known in Latin as well as to vernacular, metrical settings (e.g. Joy to thee, O Queen of Heaven).

Aside from a few references particular to the Anglican Patrimony, if only the standard of sacred music aimed at here were the norm throughout the Western Church! Note particularly the encouragement of the singing of the Gospel at sung Mass (once the norm, now exceedingly rare), the singing of the Ordinary of the Mass in Latin as well as English, and the use of sung Propers.

As for the readings from Scripture, only the Revised Standard Version (Catholic, 2nd edition) is permitted for use at Mass (n. 23) – but, when members of the Ordinariate worship with a congregation made up mainly of diocesan Catholics, for "pastoral reasons" the Jerusalem Bible may be used, lest a change cause wonderment. (As an aside, be it noted that, sometime in the next decade, the Lectionary will be brought out in a new version, employing the English Standard Version.)

When the Book of Divine Worship – the preferred form of the Eucharistic Liturgy in the Ordinariate – is to be used for Mass, further rules apply:

27. The Propers are taken from the Third Typical Edition of the Roman Missal if they are to be used. If they are to be sung, the equivalent texts (together with the accompanying chant) from the Graduale Romanum, Graduale Simplex, or the Anglican Use Gradual are used. 

28. The Collect for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist may be taken from either the Book of Divine Worship or the Third Typical Edition of the Roman Missal in English. If the latter is used, it should not be adapted (i.e. by the adopting the conventions of ‘traditional language’). 

29. The Traditional [BCP] Psalter as found in the Customary of Our Lady of Walsingham and the Psalter as found in the RSV Lectionary may be used for the psalm in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours. 

30. The Psalter as found in the Book of Divine Worship [being the Episcopalian revision of the original BCP Psalter] is not permitted for use. 

31. Penitential Rite B [after the Intercession and before the Preparation of the Offerings] is to be preferred. 

32. The Preparation of the Offerings is taken from the Third Typical Edition of the Roman Missal. 

33. The Prayer over the Offerings is taken from the Third Typical Edition of the Roman Missal. 

34. The Roman Canon as found in the Book of Divine Worship is used with the following words of consecration inserted in place of those found in the Book of Divine Worship: 

Who, the day before he suffered, took bread into his holy and venerable hands, and with eyes lifted up to heaven, unto thee, God, his almighty Father, giving thanks to thee, he blessed, broke and gave it to his disciples, saying: 

TAKE THIS ALL OF YOU, AND EAT OF IT, FOR THIS IS MY BODY,

WHICH WILL BE GIVEN UP FOR YOU. 

Likewise, after supper taking also this goodly chalice into his holy and venerable hands, again giving thanks to thee, he blessed, and gave it to his disciples, saying: 

TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND DRINK FROM IT, FOR THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD,

THE BLOOD OF THE NEW

AND ETERNAL COVENANT,

WHICH WILL BE POURED OUT FOR YOU AND FOR MANY

FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME. 

35. The response to ‘Therefore we proclaim the mystery of faith’, is one of the acclamations taken from the Third Typical Edition of the Roman Missal.

These modifications fall into two categories: firstly, updating the Book of Divine Worship to conform to the latest edition of the Roman Missal (in other words, removing the obsolete ICEL paraphrases and inserting the far more acceptable new ICEL translations – the sudden change from Cranmerian prose to ICEL vernacular and back again for the Offertory and Consecration was one of the most jarring aspects of the Book of Divine Worship); and secondly giving directions for the use of the sung Propers, even in Latin – so Graduals and the like may be sung.

Finally, the Guidelines provide very pertinent directions about "The Distribution of Holy Communion" in conformity with the restoration of Catholic tradition (as exemplified by the practice of Benedict XVI) and the maintenance of the orthodox Anglican Patrimony:

36. In keeping with the Anglican tradition, it is highly commended that Holy Communion be distributed at a communion rail (or in a similar manner) to kneeling communicants. 

37. Where Holy Communion is received in the hand, due reverence and the patristic and Anglican practice of ‘making a throne’ and taking the Sacred Host to the mouth are highly commended, as is the practice of receiving Holy Communion directly on the tongue. 

38. In keeping with the Anglican tradition, it is highly commended that the chalice is always retained by the Minister of Holy Communion, whether Ordinary or Extraordinary, and not passed into the hands of the communicant. Holy Communion under both kinds is part of the patrimony and remains normal practice in the Personal Ordinariate.

Anglicans of whatever variety have always knelt for communion, and when I have occasionally glanced into Anglican churches I have very often noted the altar rail and kneeler still in place for regular use, whether the locals be High or Low in their churchmanship. The near-universal rejection of kneeling in favour of standing is a Catholic innovation of the last fifty years, after centuries of kneeling. As to reception on the hand, it seems more reverent to convey the Host to one's mouth in that manner, by bearing It gently to the mouth upon the "throne" of the hands, rather than to seize It with the fingers as if It were a potato crisp! But of course to receive directly upon the tongue is also most commended, as the normative Catholic practice even today, whatever of widespread contrary custom.

(I would guess that the employment of extraordinary ministers of holy communion is not so common in the Ordinariate, and that any such are male servers, vested in cassock and surplice, as is most fitting.)

In sum, these Guidelines are a marvellous programme for noble and dignified Eucharistic worship (and also when the Divine Office is celebrated, though I have omitted to comment on that in this post). Aside from the particular use of elements proper to the Anglican Patrimony (the Customary, the Anglican Use Gradual, the Book of Divine Worship), if these Guidelines were widely disseminated and employed, how greatly would worship, liturgy and true piety profit throughout the wider Church!

Imagine, for a moment, how this would look in a parish, and not one part of the Ordinariate, but where these sane principles were embraced by priest and people as a timely reminder of the true Catholic ethos, "which I have loved long since and lost a while":

• worship ad orientem (n. 5);
• incense and sacred music used on all Sundays and solemnities, and on many feasts (n. 9);
• the Roman Canon employed not merely on Sundays and solemnities, but more often (n. 10);
• "silence and due reverence before the tabernacle, and in the Church before and after liturgical worship" (n. 11);
• "public and sung celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours" (n. 12) – e.g. Vespers, which ought to be celebrated in all parish churches at least on Sundays;
• "The celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation... before Mass... as a means of bringing the sacrament to the renewed awareness of the faithful" (n. 13);
• priority given to singing the liturgical texts and to plainchant (n. 15), to the singing by the priest or deacon of their parts of the Mass (n. 16) – e.g. the Preface and even the Gospel (n. 18) – to the singing of the Propers (n. 17), and to the singing by all of well-known settings of the Mass in both English and Latin (nn. 19-21);
• Holy Communion distributed to kneeling communicants at the altar rail, where they may receive either on the tongue or in the hand in a reverent manner; and the administration of the chalice in a like and seemly manner (nn. 36-38).

These remind me of the famous "six points" of Anglo-Catholic or ritualist worship: the mixed chalice, wafer bread (unleavened hosts), lights (candles),  Eucharistic vestments, the eastward position, incense – the first four of these are and have always been universal Roman Catholic practices, but the last two have sadly dropped away, and ought be restored.

I pray that we have here, not one last fruit "out of season" of the Pontificate of Benedict XVI, but the first blossoming of the ongoing rediscovery and repristination of divine worship which is the fundamental duty of the whole Church.

My only regret is that Monsignor Newton did not see fit to employ that famously witty Anglican sense of humour, and give us thirty-nine of these Guidelines!

Plausible Reforms

Pursuant to my notes about those prayers most easily omitted from the Ordinary Form Mass, I was reminded of some plausible reforms that I have mused on – some returning to the more traditional forms, some more radical:

1. For a start, the "Glory be to the Father" formerly an interal part of the Introit should be restored to its proper place accompanying the Entrance antiphon. No opportunity to praise the Trinity should be lost.

2. The Penitential Act, currently in three forms that overlap somewhat confusedly with the Kyrie, ought be made into one combined form: first, always the Confiteor and Misereatur; then, the two versicles "Have mercy on us" and "Show us"; then, the Kyrie, either troped or untroped.  God knows we need more reminders to do penance in this proud Pelagian age.  Also, all this business of options is disastrous in a culture afflicted by liturgical minimalism – because the shortest, easiest, and least unsettling will be chosen always.

3. Abolishing the ill-considered provision of the Apostles' Creed as alternative to the Nicene (how horrendous!) is imperative.  Perhaps, as a compromise, on days when the Creed is not now said (i.e. on weekdays not solemnities) the Apostles' Creed could be given as an option? Given the decline in popularity of the Rosary (when layfolk most commonly said the Apostles' Creed), and the removal of the Apostles' Creed from Prime and Compline about fifty years ago (in one of the last preconciliar simplifications of the Breviary), one suspects that the real motive behind inserting the Apostles' Creed into the Mass was to ensure it not utterly perish! - and hence allowing its use on lesser days at least would be a real gain in more ways than one.

4. As an English bishop so piously began to do, the insertion by custom of a "Hail Mary" at the end of the Prayer of the Faithful, before the priest's concluding prayer thereof, should be sanctioned and indeed made compulsory.  She is Mediatrix of Grace, after all, and deserves hyperdulia.

5. The Offertory antiphon should be reinserted in the Missal, in order to be said or sung at least when nothing else is, on the model of the other such, the Entrance and Communion antiphons.

6. What I mentioned in a recent post below as a timesaving but illicit reordering of the modern offertory prayers could – this is radical – be allowed: first the priest could wash his hands, before mixing the wine with water in the chalice (research has demonstrated that such a prefatory handwashing, as reserved later to solemn pontifical Mass, is the earlier position for it in the offertory rite, for the second handwashing, the Lavabo proper, developed later), and then offer up paten with host and mixed chalice together with a single prayer, compounded of the two in the current Missal, before the (censing and) In spiritu humilitatis, and continuing with the Orate fratres.  This would be simpler and more direct.

[UPDATE: How embarrassing – I have just been reading over the paperwork of the committees that drew up the modern Mass, or rather that portion of their documentation about the Missa normativa or first draft of the Ordinary Form, prepared in 1967, together with their drafts of the new Eucharistic Prayers (quite interesting if your Latin is up to it); and what do I find?  Their draft proposal for the offertory was: before all else, for the priest to wash his hands at the chair (saying nothing), and, after the altar had been readied, for him to go to it and wait to be handed the paten with host, which he would offer up, saying quietly Sicut hic panis erat dispersus et collectus factus est unus, ita colligatur ecclesia tua in regnum tuum. Gloria tibi, Deus, in sæculum. Then, having mixed wine and water in the chalice (again, saying nothing), he would quietly offer up the chalice, saying Sapientia ædificavit sibi domum, miscuit vinum et posuit mensam. Gloria tibi, Deus, in sæcula.  He would conclude with the In spiritu humilitatis, cense the oblations (but nothing else – the altar and the people were to have been censed at the start of Mass instead), and pray aloud the Prayer over the Offerings, completely omitting the Orate fratres (which was only rescued and put into the Novus Ordo at the behest of Paul VI).  So it appears I think like a 1960's liturgist; oh dear.]

7. The Prayer over the Offerings should have the long ending restored – the Secret (as it used to be called) always had such; and it is appropriate that all Three Persons be mentioned prior to the Preface dialogue, for, whereas in the Western Rites, after the long ending of the Secret, comes Dominus vobiscum, Sursum corda, &c., in the Eastern in place of the Dominus vobiscum comes "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit..." (inserted as an optional form of greeting at the start of the modern Roman Mass).

8. "Harmonizing" the Eucharistic Prayers, by ensuring that all feature such items as an explicit petition for the benefit of the prayers of Our Lady and the Saints (at present, only Eucharistic Prayers I and III have this; the others merely commemorate them) and so forth would be a good idea.  (For example, E.P. II needs a somewhat longer introduction like that of E.P. III, whereas the overlong recital of the history of salvation with which E.P. IV is saddled could be easily abbreviated – ditching its invariable Preface too would make it a far more popular prayer.)  This would have the added benefit of equalizing the length of them, so that E.P. II doesn't remain the de facto majority choice by reason of its brevity.

9. Ditching those Memorial Acclamations would be a marvellous idea (our friends the Carthusians have never admitted them into their Mass, even now); failing that, moving them from after the Elevation of the Chalice (where they seem to distract somewhat from the worship of Christ made present) to after the Anamnesis (where they would reinforce the truth that remembering the saving acts of the Lord, we offer His Sacrifice, the making present the power of His Cross), as even a modern liturgist has suggested, would make better sense of them and their texts.

10. Just as, in the Roman Canon (E.P. I) the celebrant bows low and then crosses himself at the Supplices te rogamus, so should the celebrant be instructed to do at the analogous part of each of the other Eucharistic Prayers (at the part technically termed the communion epiclesis, praying the Holy Spirit render our reception of the Body and Blood most fruitful).  I'm told this is seen and done by priests in Rome already.

11. Given that the Prayer for Peace "Lord Jesus Christ, you said to your Apostles" is said aloud in the modern Mass, as a sort of lead-in to "The peace of the Lord be with you always" and the Sign of Peace, why not make the Pre-Communion Prayer "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God" a like preface to the "Behold the Lamb of God" and the distribution of Communion?  The Lord knows we need every aid to increase our devotion to the Eucharist that is His Body and Blood.  All that would be required would be to change the rubric from "Then the Priest... says quietly" to "Then the Priest... says aloud", and to pluralize the prayer, by changing "me" to "us" and "my" to "our", as well as adding the expected conclusion "Who live and reign for ever and ever" to which the congregation would reply "Amen", just as with the Prayer for Peace a little earlier.  (The priest could still say the second alternative prayer, "May the receiving of your Body and Blood" (Perceptio) as his own private preparation ere he receive the Sacrament.)

12. It would be better for the Prayer after Communion to end with the long ending "Through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son..." rather than the short ending "Through Christ our Lord" – until the reform of the liturgy, the Postcommunion always had the long ending (and in the Carthusian Mass it still does to-day).

13. Finally, as many times I've noted (following all tradition and precedent, and the example of the modern Carthusian Mass), when the priest kisses the altar at the end of Mass, that most significant prayer Placeat tibi sancta Trinitas ought be reinserted as most expressive of the Sacrifice of the Mass and his true role as sacramental offerer thereof, in persona Christi capitis.

"The Alternative Has Become the Norm"

Responding to my earlier posting about how the Roman Mass is de facto the Hippolytan Mass, an "anonymous young priest" (we assume, a Catholic! perhaps a Coo-ees contributor? but probably not to that aCatholic Catholica...) has emailed me to remark that:

- At least in Australia, clergy exercising legitimate options have routinely opted for the simpler and shorter.  “2 is the new 1” as far as EPs go.  But I’m also thinking here of the option of substituting a suitable hymn for the proper chants of the Mass.  The exercised option over the long term has meant that the alternative has become the norm, and there would rarely be an “option” in parochio-political terms of returning to the more elaborate and longer.  The point to be made is that the options need to be of equal “weight” in order to be true options, otherwise we arrive at the imbalance presently encountered. 

- Putting together recently a Funeral Mass I discovered the huge variety in Scriptural readings (45 readings), which bewilders rather than frees one.  The options for readings for Mass for the Dead also seem to be chosen on the basis of their ability to console mourners, rather than the mystery of Christ’s death and ours.  The example I give for the consolation vs communion selection: St Matthew’s Beatitudes (but not St Luke’s) may be read at a Mass for the Dead.  Why?  Probably because there is an escape clause: “Happy are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”  The options provided for choice need to be in harmony and consistency with the rest of the liturgy as the work of the whole Church, of which the Funeral Mass is but one occasion.

"Parochio-political" – marvellous phrase, terrible reality!

Liturgical minimalism, and all other forms thereof (e.g. terrible preaching, worthless catechesis, etc.), constitute the worst enemy of Catholicism in Australia: it is a terrible plague of mediocrity, the counterpart of that lukewarmness of which Our Lord in the Apocalypse so frighteningly said, "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert cold or hot. But because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth." (iii, 15-16)  Such lukewarmness, such mediocrity, is but the prelude to spiritual death – as can be seen in the deadness of our churches Australia-wide, which are little Laodiceas, nearly every one: "thou sayest: I am rich and made wealthy and have need of nothing: and knoweth not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked." (iii, 17)

Your comments, young Fr X, about hymns totally replacing the sung Propers are too true; at least some work is now being done in the States and even here to try and remedy the truly awful condition of so-called sacred music in parishes.

As for funeral Masses, does not the Supreme Pontiff formerly known as Cardinal Ratzinger wish for the two Forms of the one Roman Rite to cross-fertilize?  I believe that the Missale Romanum (1962 and earlier editions) suggests the following four pairs of Epistles and Gospels, and none other (well, I could cock a glance at the 1738 Missale Parisiense for more if asked...):

• I Thessalonians 4, 13-18 & St John 11, 21-27 [for funerals, month's minds, &c.];
• I Corinthians 15, 51-57 & St John 5, 25-29 [1st Mass of All Souls];
• II Machabees 12, 43-46 & St John 6, 37-40 [2nd Mass of All Souls, and for anniversaries];
• Apocalypse 14, 13 & St John 6, 51-55 [3rd Mass of All Souls, and the daily Mass for the dead].

In my experience, it is much easier choosing from a restricted compass rather than from a bewildering number of possibilities – when I had a part-time job as a salesman at Myer as a schoolboy, I was told to give customers no more than three choices.  Not having a modern Lectionary handy I cannot be sure all of these are options in the Ordinary Form, but I suspect they would be.  Something for you, Fr X, to check!

Altar Card for the New Mass on Sale!

Simply amazing!  Everything old is new again; or, back to the future...

St Pauls Publications are offering an altar card, 297 by 210 mm (produced by C.T.S. in the U.K., unsurprisingly), to assist priests in saying the new Mass – in both English and Latin! – and which is described as follows:

This encapsulated card reproduces the text of the prayers of consecration in both the new English translation and the ordinary form Latin equivalent (Latin on one side, English on the other). It sits on the altar and will assist priests in saying Mass in the new translation and in the original Latin.

I wonder if it will be laid flat on the mensa, or if more enterprising priests prop it up against the altar crucifix?

I do hope a matching side card with the prayers for the mixing of wine and water in the chalice will soon be available.  A priest friend is already busy designing it!

Bring Back the Placeat

A gift much to be hoped for would be the extension of several rubrics in the modern Carthusian Missal of 1981 to the whole Roman Rite.

To repeat what I have blogged on before:

• the Carthusian Mass retains the Introit, Gradual, Alleluia or Tract, and Communion – the chant Propers – just as the Roman Mass does (in scarce books such as the Graduale), but incorporates their texts into the Missal for greater convenience (alas, even the Carthusians only retain the chant of the Offertory for sung Masses, and do not include its text in their Missal);
• the Carthusian Mass has but one Penitential Act, that using the Confiteor &c.;
• the Carthusian Mass retains the Lavabo at the washing of the priest's hands (which could at least be given as an alternative text in the Roman Missal, alongside the modern choice of Lava me);
• above all, the Carthusian Mass has the rule (Introduction, I, 6) Precem eucharisticam de more secreto proferimus, concelebratione aliisque circumstantiis particularibus exceptis – "The Eucharistic Prayer we customarily offer secretly, excepting at concelebrations and other particular circumstances" – and would that this rule be returned to use in the Roman Rite (where until the reform of the Liturgy, the Roman Canon was only prayed aloud at ordinations);
• the Carthusian Mass has no Memorial Acclamations (which are foreign to the Roman Rite, after all, being derived from the Coptic if I recall correctly);
• the Carthusian Mass appoints the Placeat (in their recension of that venerable prayer) to be said after the dismissal, as the priest bows before the altar before kissing it.

I would like to emphasise, not so much even the very desirable making Memorial Acclamations and the Eucharistic Prayer aloud optional, but the reinsertion of the Placeat into the modern, Ordinary Form of the Mass.

As Michael Davies pointed out somewhere in his writings, even the inclusion of the Placeat alone would safeguard the traditional understanding of the Mass as a propitiatory sacrifice, offered by the priest, for the living and the dead, against modern tendencies to read it as but a Protestant commemorative service.

None other than the Sacred Congregation of Rites, in Tres Abhinc Annos, its Second Instruction “for the orderly implementation of the Constitution on the Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council” (May 4, 1967), specified that:

It is recommended that the priest recite the Placeat silently as he is leaving the altar. (n. 16)

The Placeat also well-expresses the consensus of East and West (as confirmed by the Byzantines at the Synod of Constantinople in 1156) that the Divine Sacrifice of Christ is offered up to all Three Divine Persons, He receiving as God what He offers as Man: hence the prayer prays the Holy Trinity to receive the Holy Sacrifice.

My own reflection has made me realize how the Placeat well corresponds and answers to the Orate fratres and its response Suscipiat, and also how the Placeat well-summarizes and reflects the phrasing and theology of the Roman Canon.

Herewith, the texts of the Orate fratres &c. (in Latin and the new English version), and then the Placeat (with an unofficial translation):

Orate, fratres, ut meum ac vestrum sacrificium acceptabile fiat apud Deum Patrem omnipotentem. R/. Suscipiat Dominus sacrificium de manibus tuis, ad laudem et gloriam nominis sui, ad utilitatem quoque nostram, totiusque Ecclesiæ suæ sanctæ.

Pray, brethren (brothers and sisters), that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father. R/. May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of his name, for our good and the good of all his holy Church. 

Placeat tibi, sancta Trinitas, obsequium servitutis meæ, et præsta, ut sacrificium, quod oculis tuæ Majestatis indignus obtuli, tibi sit acceptabile, mihique et omnibus, pro quibus illud obtuli, sit, te miserante, propitiabile. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

(May the homage of my service be pleasing to Thee, O holy Trinity; and grant, that the sacrifice, which I, though unworthy, have offered in the sight of Thy Majesty, may be acceptable to Thee: and through Thy mercy win forgiveness for me and for all those for whom I have offered it.  Through Christ our Lord.  Amen. – Cabrol's translation)

It will be evident how the thoughts expressed in the Orate fratres &c. are resumed in the Placeat.

The parallels between the Placeat and the Roman Canon are very many; evidently, the sacramental theology of the latter suffused the composer of the former, who simply put into the singular what the Canon renders in the plural: 

• Placeat… acceptabile… propitiabile – cf. accepta habeas… placatus accipias… acceptabilemque… accepta habere (Roman Canon, Te igitur, Hanc igitur, Quam oblationem, Supra quæ); 
• obsequium servitutis meæ – cf. oblationem servitutis nostræ (Roman Canon, Hanc igitur); 
• quod oculis tuæ Majestatis – cf. offerimus præclaræ Majestati tuæ… Supra quæ propitio ac sereno vulto respicere digneris… in conspectu divinæ Majestatis tuæ (Roman Canon, Unde et memores, Supra quæ, Supplices te rogamus); 
• sacrificium… mihique et omnibus pro quibus illud obtuli – cf. pro quibus tibi offerimus, vel qui tibi offerunt hoc sacrificium laudis, pro se, suisque omnibus (Roman Canon, Memento Dñe); 
• indignus – cf. Nobis quoque peccatoribus (Roman Canon, Nobis quoque); 
• te miserante – cf. de multitudine miserationum tuarum sperantibus... veniæ… largitor (Roman Canon, Nobis quoque).

It may be added that, by analogy with the what was done elsewhere to private prayers of the priest in the reform of the liturgy of Mass, the short ending Per Christum Dominum nostrum could be deleted; it does not occur in all recensions of this prayer (cf. Jungmann).

Priests: even for the moment as a private devotion, bring back your praying of the Placeat!

First Sunday using the New Missal

This Sunday, at my parish of St Francis, the new translation of the Mass was at last used for all parts of the liturgy, with the arrival of the new Missal and our priest's usage of it, not just for all the Ordinary (as he had been doing since Pentecost) but for the Proper as well – in other words, to-day, the 32nd Sunday  in Ordinary Time, we heard the Collect, Prayer over the Offerings and the Prayer after Communion in the new translation for the first time.

Before Mass began, the very handsome "chapel edition" of the new Missal was on display, open to some of its beautiful illustrations – in Australia, the Missals are published by CTS, and are very fine.  Father told me after Mass that the large altar edition was even more grand, with gold-edged pages.  Name-plates listing all parishioners who donated funds towards the purchase of these volumes will be inserted soon as a memorial to their largesse.

My own copy of the new Missal is still in transit, but such are the wonders of the Internet that I have these texts to hand:

Collect 
Almighty and merciful God, 
graciously keep from us all adversity, 
so that, unhindered in mind and body alike, 
we may pursue in freedom of heart 
the things that are yours. 
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, 
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 
one God, for ever and ever.

Prayer over the Offerings 
Look with favour, we pray, O Lord, 
upon the sacrificial gifts offered here, 
that, celebrating in mystery the Passion of your Son, 
we may honour it with loving devotion. 
Through Christ our Lord.


Prayer after Communion 
Nourished by this sacred gift, O Lord, 
we give you thanks and beseech your mercy, 
that, by the pouring forth of your Spirit, 
the grace of integrity may endure 
in those your heavenly power has entered. 
Through Christ our Lord.

Standing in the pews hearing these prayed, it was obvious that the priest read them with good diction and evident comprehension; likewise, as I listened and considered their words, it was easy to understand them – not that it is my ears for whom they are meant, seeing as it is God they address! – so that furphy about the new translation being impossible to understand is easily confuted as a most stupid claim.

It is interesting to compare and contrast my own parish's uneventful reception of the new texts, and easy adjustment to the new words, to what I hear of the difficulties and unwelcoming attitude (played up and encouraged, I suspect, by the priests) in our neighbouring parish...

Come Advent Sunday, out with the old and in with the new: willy-nilly, the new Missal will be the only one allowed to be used at the Mass in the Ordinary Form.  Those who have dragged their heels and belly-ached will have to stop whining eventually and move with the times!  I must say, it amuses me no end to say this; perhaps the experience that some liberals are having will give them compassion for those who have endured far more in order to get Mass in the Extraordinary Form, but I doubt it.  How amusing it will be, that those who love the 1970's, and all its works, and all its empty promises, will have the choice of the more-accurately-translated Mass, some first fruit of the Reform of the Reform (and, with the upsurge in musical settings of the Propers in English, not to mention a push for a more solemn liturgy, is not this movement bearing yet further fruit?), or of the Mass of the Ages.

I suppose if they don't like either option they can become refugees from the Roman Rite.

Even at Papal Masses...

Even at Papal Masses, the readings before the Gospel are read by laypersons, not by vested, instituted lectors (of whom surely a supply would be available in Rome of all places); even at Papal Masses, despite several deacons serving at the Pope's side, the Prayers of the Faithful are read by a troop of layfolk, each reading one petition (just as teachers love to arrange a set of students to read them at school Masses), rather than – as all tradition would suggest, not to mention the rubrics – have a deacon announce the intentions for which to pray.

At least at Papal Mass in St Peter's, the Supreme Pontiff is celebrating Mass facing East, given the orientation of that basilica!

At least the Holy Father has brought back the use of an altar rail, at which, to kneeling communicants, he administers the Bread of Life, placing the Sacred Host on their tongues (and, one assumes, a following deacon then gives them Christ's Blood from the chalice).

It seems to me that, if a resacralization of the celebration of Mass is to be attempted – as is most needful, and moreover as the Pope has emphasised – then some of the first things to be done are to bring back a better adherence to the spirit of liturgical law, rather than, out of a misplaced sense of "community involvement", have members of the congregation perform what should be the proper ministries of lectors, acolytes and deacons: therefore, readings and intercessions should be read by persons vested at the least.

Almost more than anything else, restoring the ancient and rational practice of the priest facing East, standing before the altar, leading the people in prayer, rather than foolishly gawping at them (and they him) across the table thereof, is to be desired and worked towards.  The few times I've had the joy of attending Ordinary Form Mass said ad orientem, it has greatly helped make clear that what is going on is and ought to be offered as a reverent, dignified, sublime sacrifice.  It helps the priest pray, and helps both him and his flock focus on the Mystery, rather than both be distracted by and distracting to each other.

It seems to me that the administration of Holy Communion should be restored to being a more reverent ritual, with those doing so, even if EMHC's, being at least parati (vested), and those receiving kneeling to do so, as is the Papal preference.

Again, none of all of this requires any change in rubrics – only the resolve to implement, not a vulgar minimum, but a maximum.

Hence:

• Readers should be vested, instituted lectors;
• A deacon if present, or such a lector, should read the General Intercessions;
• Mass should be said employing the Eastward Position;
• EMHC's, if their use actually be necessary, should be vested;
• Communion should be received kneeling.

Why it is – as Acts of the Martyrs in North Africa demonstrate – that country congregations in the early Church had multiple lectors, subdeacons and so forth, where all too often to-day some aged priest has no servers but only a bevy of middle-aged ladies come to assist in reading and later in distributing Communion, I wonder?

(For the moment I do not speak of the parallel calls, now ever-stronger, for a return to singing the whole Mass, and the Propers thereof, not ditties or hymns but Introits and so forth.)

******

I will make one suggestion of a profitable and easy change to the modern Order of Mass: rather than having three Penitential Acts, all three ought be merged together: thus, the priest would always begin with the introductory phrase Fratres agnoscamus peccata nostra, then lead all in the Confiteor, which he answers with the Misereatur (all responding Amen) – then, having used "Act A", he would at once continue with the versicles that comprise variant "B", which form a sensible bridge to the Kyrie, either untroped, or (as in Penitential Act C) with interpolated verses (a nice revival of a mediæval practice).

Ad Orientem at Perth Seminary

A Western Australian correspondent informs me that, for some time now, Mass on Saturdays at St Charles' Seminary, Perth, has been said ad orientem versus; and that for the first time – when my friend was there a month ago – the same Eastward stance has been taken at Sunday Mass.  I hear that the singing of the Ordinary (including Latin for the Sanctus) and the choice of decent hymns were both pleasing, and that it was good to see the seminarians alike all in cassocks: indeed, the Rector, Monsignor Long (who was the chief celebrant), sets a very good example to them by always wearing his.

I recall how Bp Jarrett of Lismore likes to quote the Apostle's words "Let all things be done decently and in order" (I Cor. xiv, 40) when describing the unpretentious and sober manner in which Mass ought be said, the priest being thus a servant of the sacred liturgy, not a third-rate actor in a melodrama, nor a robot: I recall the then Fr Long saying Mass in the Catholic college chapel at the University of Western Australia, and such was the ars celebrandi he employed then, and still does now: without affectation "doing the red, saying the black".  I would think that this is one very important aspect of Pope Benedict's patient hopes for resacralization of worship – a making clear what it really is.

At Communion, it was also pleasing to hear of various of the seminarians quite unselfconsciously kneeling to receive Our Lord, as a godly freedom obtained as to which of the lawful postures for reception were employed, for the particular spiritual good of each person (for it stands to reason that, given the choice between Communion "kneeling on the tongue" or "standing on the hand", one should receive in the method best calculated to increase one's reverence).

Do spare a prayer, gentle reader, for the seminarians and staff of this seminary, which, ever since its reopening by Archbishop Barry Hickey (now very soon to retire) has produced a good crop of new priests.  Pray that the Archdiocese of Perth may be granted a strong, confident, Catholic successor in due time, that this work, and all else, may continue to grow and flourish.

By contrast, I recall attending one Mass, about a decade ago, at the Melbourne seminary, which got the priest who said it into enormous trouble (and some of the seminarians as well), just because, celebrating a Marian feast day by using the altar in the adjacent grotto, he said Mass ad orientem; the rumour – itself revealing – was that he said a Latin Mass (this in the days when to even imagine doing so was considered naughty if not worse), whereas it was just a normal vernacular celebration at which, by reason of the altar used being up against the back wall of the grotto, he had no option but to stand facing it.  

What a difference a decade makes!

A Few Restorations to the Mass

The Mass of the modern Roman Rite could do with some enrichment from its Traditional forerunner.

Most of the suggestions I am about to make simply give the priest a few more short private prayers to say, to help him in his focus and devotion at the altar – for, if the celebrant be devout, this will conduce to edify the laity.

One very simple and small addition would be, when the priest communicates himself, when he says Corpus / Sanguis Christi custodiat me in vitam æternam, he preface each aspiration with the traditional psalm-verses appointed for this purpose in the all the editions of the Roman Missal down to 1962: before receiving the Host, Panem cælestem accipiam, et nomen Domini invocabo; before drinking from the chalice, Quid retribuam Domino pro omnibus quæ retribuit mihi?  Calicem salutaris accipiam, et nomen Domini invocabo.  ("I will take the bread of heaven and call upon the name of the Lord"; "What shall I render to the Lord for all that he has rendered to me?  I will take the chalice of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord" – Psalm 115:12-13, replacing "chalice of salvation" with "bread of heaven" in the first case.)  This is a gracious and delightful meditation.

A second improvement: at present, when performing the ablutions, the prayer Quod ore sumpsimus is to be said; why not provide Corpus tuum, Domine, its traditional partner, as an alternative, just as is done in the Novus Ordo with the two prayers before communion?  Some could conceivably object that the Quod ore is in the plural, while the Corpus tuum is in the singular – but in fact this better accords with the two alternative prayers before communion, Domine Jesu Christe and Perceptio Corporis, since they are both in the singular.

Ought, say, the Veni sanctificator be restored at the offertory, or "preparation of the gifts" as it is called nowadays?  I would argue not, since the new Eucharistic Prayers all have explicit epicleses, which more than substitute for this prayer.  However, something simply must be done about those dreadful Bugnini twins, "Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation..." – to replace them with some of the many far more devout mediæval offertory prayers would be greatly to be desired.  Certainly, in respect of the chalice, the Offerimus tibi is almost exactly the same length as Benedictus es, Domine... vinum... (65 as against 62 syllables – and if the Amen of the former is made a response, it actually comes in as shorter than the latter with its optional response Benedictus Deus in sæcula, "Blessed be God for ever").

Why not mandate that the priest say privately as he approaches the holy table, "I will go in to the altar of God, to God who gives joy to my youth"?  This small but significant addition would surely help him to focus on what he is doing and the high mysteries he is about to celebrate.

It ought be encouraged that the traditional vesting prayers be said by the priest; and likewise, as was the mediæval custom, that as part of his prayerful preparation – which Canon Law mandates; one wonders how many priests observe this rule! – or even as he goes to the altar, he could pray Psalm 42.  The Missal ought provide Psalm 42 among its selection of prayers for use before and after Mass; similarly, it ought provide the text of the Last Gospel, St John i, 1-14, In principio, as a devout passage warmly commended to be said after leaving the altar.  Our Catholic forebears were so taken with these prayers, one a psalm, the other a Gospel pericope, that insensibly over many generations they came to become de rigueur for use at Mass: surely their devotional value is not spent?

Book of Divine Worship, Rite One

As all men know, there now exists an Anglican Use of the Roman Rite, whose liturgical texts are collected in The Book of Divine Worship (Newman House Press, 2003). This volume contains the Holy Eucharist, Rites One and Two, the second being a modern-English version and the first being in Cramnerian English, more or less. Rite One is noteworthy for having the Roman Canon in what is called an "Old English Translation" (sometimes attributed to Coverdale, but apparently not actually by him).

What is more noteworthy is that it contains several very obvious omissions: it leaves out entirely the "Through the same Christ our Lord" at the end of the Communicantes (while still including this phrase after the Hanc igitur, the Supplices te and the Memento etiam, and the Nobis quoque, where it adds "Jesus"). More annoyingly and most inconsistently, it omits the Amen after each - except after the Supplices te! - but these were only included in the Missal in 1475 anyway.

It also omits any translation of the two opening words Te igitur (Thee, therefore) of the Roman Canon; and renders et beati Joseph ejusdem Virginis sponsi (inserted by Bl John XXIII) as "of Joseph her spouse" (following the old ICEL paraphrase); similarly, it omits tuorum (thy) in relation to the Apostles and Martyrs (although "the" is possibly a misprint for "thy" here); and curiously, perhaps for better effect, slightly reorders the great concluding doxology Per ipsum, putting "in the unity of the Holy Ghost" and "all hono[u]r and glory be unto thee" before "O Father Almighty" - and rendering est as "be" (subjunctive), not the indicative "is".

Because of the more tyrranical hold of the Novus Ordo mindset in the eighties and nineties, when the B.D.W. was prepared, the words of consecration are those of the modern Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, rather than a direct translation from the traditional Canon:

Take this, all of you and eat it: this is my body which will be given up for you.

(In the Traditional Rite, I mean, the Extraordinary Form, the words before the colon are not part of the formula, and the words after "body" are not present, being inserted - arguably to emphasise the sacrifice of the Mass! - in 1969; similarly, the particle enim ought really be translated "for" and inserted before "this".)

Take this, all of you, and drink from it: this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of men.

(Here we have the notorious "for all", which makes Traddies have a fit of scruples and doubts - famously, the Vatican has now decreed, some years ago already, that this must be changed to "for many" in all translations, in continuity with all tradtion. Similarly, enim is omitted, mysterium fidei is moved to later, "Take this... drink from it" is included as part of the consecratory words, and the original Hæc quotiescumque feceritis in mei memoria facietis is replaced by the Novus Ordo Hoc facite in meam commemorationem. - a change that was allegedly made, leaving aside conspiracy theories, in order to give a more literal quotation from Scripture, though research has shewn that the older and more venerable a text, the less likely, perversely enough, it is to be literal in quoting Holy Writ.)

"Therefore we proclaim the mystery of faith" (at least adjusting the weak "Let us" of old ICEL) and those annoying Memorial acclamations are next inserted, again because the B.D.W. was put together in times less enlightened than the pontificate of Benedict XVI! Of course, mysterium fidei was moved here, and some made-up responses inserted, by some liturgical do-gooder in the course of the liturgical reform. I can't wait to see it all dumped; and as liturgists have said, these acclamations would - if kept - fit far better after the anamnesis anyway...

I understand that were this Book compiled now, it wouldn't have thus bowed to the Novus Ordo; perhaps we can expect a second revised edition sometime?

Overall, though, it is a good translation, and may be interestingly compared with the new ICEL version of the Roman Canon (and indeed of the whole Mass) soon to be put into place throughout the Anglosphere. For a start, here are the new ICEL words of consecration:

TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND EAT OF IT: FOR THIS IS MY BODY WHICH WILL BE GIVEN UP FOR YOU.

TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND DRINK FROM IT: FOR THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD, THE BLOOD OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL COVENANT; WHICH WILL BE POURED OUT FOR YOU AND FOR MANY FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME.

Note the use of "for" to express enim, and of "many" to translate multis (you wouldn't think it would take forty years to get these two right, would you?).

Desiderata Desideravi

You can imagine with what delight I've just read on NLM of what Reform of the Reform proposals His Holiness the Pope has approved!

In the pipeline at the moment of course is the new, actually-accurate and theologically-correct translation of the modern Missal: so after forty-odd years the simple faithful will once again hear the word "grace" used all the time, instead of the puerile and Pelagian euphemisms therefor that the Anglosphere has been contaminated with thanks to ICEL and its minions.

But there is more to come.

Recall what the High Church Anglicans used to call for as desiderata: the Six Points -

• lights (that is, candles, frowned upon by Puritans as dregs of Popery),
• Eucharistic vestments (as opposed to lay clothes, Geneva gowns and choir vestments suited to the Office only),
• wafer bread (as opposed to the common leavened loaf),
• the mixed chalice (as opposed to the Protestant practice, due to Luther, of omitting adding water to the wine),
• incense (despised as Romish, although its use hadn't quite died out at the English cathedrals till the eighteenth century, lastly at Ely, where the first-recorded case of allergy to incense is recorded as bringing about its retirement),
• the Eastward position (the ancient and Catholic position of the priest at the altar, again against the innovation of Luther - despite trendy twentieth-century notions, modern research reinforces the original consensus that ad orientem is the correct way to stand at God's board, and has been since the foundation of the Church).

Of these, the first four are universal Catholic practices (outside the liberal schismatic madness of South Brisbane et al.), the fifth is used by Catholics, but often very sparingly (yet always at funerals!), and the last is very rare amongst modern Catholics, even though it was the universal practice until after the Council (and it is still maintained amongst those who say the old Mass).

What I would ideally wish to see implemented would include:

• a move from appalling, low-brow and heterodox music to decent, good-quality and orthodox music at Mass (at the very least, from bad songs to better hymns; and better still, where the church has the resources, a return ought be made - as Vatican II said! - to Gregorian chant having pride of place, in concert with sacred polyphony);
• singing of the liturgy, such as the responses, the collects, the Preface and so forth (the priest and people should sing! for this is in accord with all tradition, and reinforces the sacral nature of the proceedings - but in Australia this is very rare, and minimalism reigns);
• much greater use of incense (see previous comments);
• return to more Latin (see previous comments!);
• male servers only (the allowance on specious canonical grounds of women servers is productive of great confusion among the faithful, as it seems to point toward the heretical idea of eventual allowance of women priests - indeed, arguably female servers are a greater scandal than Communion on the hand, since they suggest that the matter of the sacrament of Holy Orders is to be changed);
• instituted lectors only (why on earth those to read at Mass should be unvested layfolk, let alone ladies, I have never understood - just listen to the solecisms to hear why);
• Mass facing East (in consonance with all tradition, in emphasis on the offering of the Sacrifice, and in opposition to that heretic Luther);
• Holy Communion received on the tongue, and whilst kneeling (note that the ancient and universal rule is to receive on the tongue, but kneeling communion came in only about five hundred years ago - in the Byzantine Rite, one doesn't kneel).

Turn the altars round, and restore the rails, and the holy images!

Let me be honest - I far prefer the Traditional Latin Mass, and would be glad to attend it ever, and the Novus Ordo never. But seeing that this is improbable, I would hope that a Reform of the Reform will resacralise the Mass that most Catholics have to put up with.

But for now, festina lente...

Farnborough

I have been advised by a certain prelate, who shall remain nameless, that St Michael's Abbey, Farnborough, is the place to visit - and now Rob, a mate of mine from W.A. (he's a fellow Tasmanian, actually), sends me a postcard of same...

He tells me he's been there a fortnight, and by now will be in Oxford (at the home of our semi-detached brethren, Pusey House), pursuing his academic researches into eighteenth century Anglicanism. (I have no trouble with a purely academic interest in Anglicanism as quaint history, just as studying Egyptology is of no danger so long as one realizes that the beast-headed deities so dignifiedly represented in ancient arts and hieroglyphic inscriptions are but fables and dust.)

Famously, Farnborough, to return to matters Catholic, is not just possessed of a splendid history - having been founded by the exiled Empress Eugénie to pray for her fallen royal house, that of the (in)famous Bonapartes, becoming the final resting place of her husband Napoleon III, of their son the Prince Imperial, who died fighting not against but for the British Empire, in a remote conflict against the Zulus, and finally of herself* - but is very much a living cloister, with beaut church and monastery, wherein, by their services and labours, much is being done "to foster a new liturgical revival". Rob reckons rightly that "You would love their bookshop!" Too right.

God bless, Rob, hope your visit to the Old Dart is a blessing.

[* In a nice touch, the 45th asteroid to be discovered, in 1857, was named Eugenia, after the Empress Eugenie, and in 1998 it was found to have a moon, which was named Petit-Prince, in allusion not just to the famous novel by de Saint-Exupéry, but to him who would have been Napoleon IV.]

Sunday Mass at St Patrick's Cathedral, 13th April

It's nearly two weeks since I assisted at the Solemn Mass at St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne, but I did say I'd post about it and 'review' it, so here goes...

(Bear in mind that this was the first Novus Ordo Sunday Mass I attended since January, and the first Novus Ordo Mass I've attended for almost a month. Also note that I have previous experience of attending - and serving - Mass at the Cathedral in Melbourne, both under Archbishop Hart and, before him, under Archbishop Pell, prior to his translation and elevation.)

I was with my mother and father, who'd met up with me in Melbourne, and I brought them along with me to Mass; Dad isn't Catholic, and this would be the first Mass he's come to for some years (occasionally in the past he came to Christmas or Easter Mass), while Mum normally attends either a parish Mass (so she can have a sleep-in), or goes to the early Mass at the Carmel in Launceston, where she and I prefer to go if we're not too tired!

So that Mum and Dad (and I) would see better, at my suggestion we sat in the south transept, facing toward the new sanctuary - Pell had the old sanctuary extended into the crossing, and there sits a fine marble altar. The old sanctuary contains the choirstalls, and the old high altar is the place where the Sacrament is reserved. (Even for the Traditional Latin Mass, the new altar and forward sanctuary is used.)

On the altar were the customary seven candles - yes, in Melbourne at least it's always done for a bishop. There was no altar crucifix, but on the pillar off to the gospel side there is a very large permanent stone or marble crucifix, which is the one censed and venerated during all Masses.

Amusingly, in the Novus Ordo this Sunday I'm reporting about was Good Shepherd Sunday - so I kept an Octave for the Good Shepherd, having celebrated it the previous Sunday in the old rite! The Introit and Communion sung at the Cathedral were the same I'd joined in singing the previous week.

At 10.55 am, a small sub-group of the cathedral choir (all of whom are men or boys, each vested in surplice and red cassock) formed a schola in front of the pews in the south transept, just next to the organ console. They sang the Gregorian Introit Misericordia Domini, omitting, however, the Doxology (as is allowed in the Novus Ordo).

As soon as they finished, the regular cantor, likewise vested in red cassock and surplice, went to his place at the front of the sanctuary on the epistle side and asked all to stand and sing the processional hymn, number 838 from the Catholic Worship Book, "There's a wideness in God's mercy". This is a favourite of mine, a lovely hymn by Fr Faber (as altered by later editors) to a very pleasant tune. As the (somewhat small) congregation sang (the nave didn't look full-up, and neither transept was), in processed the cathedral choir, who filed around the outside of the new sanctuary and ascended by side stairs to the choirstalls in the old, followed by the thurifer, crucifer, cerifers, other servers (all in soutane and surplice), the M.C., Fr Laurence Cortez, a priest (the Dean, I think) holding aloft (rather showily and vulgarly) the Book of Gospels, and His Grace Archbishop Hart, resplendent in vestments with pallium, mitre, crosier, and episcopal dalmatic peeking out under his large flowing chasuble; behind him came two servers bearing vimpae, whose job it is to take away and give back the mitre and crozier as appropriate. The archbishop and ministers entered the sanctuary, genuflecting before the altar, and then His Grace censed the altar before repairing to his throne, against the pillar behind the altar on the epistle side.

Once the hymn ended, Hart began Mass, singing "In the name..." and "Peace be with you", to which all responded in the same chant. He then spoke a brief introduction, before reverting to singing Penitential Rite B: "Lord, we have sinned against you... Lord, show us your mercy and love... May almighty God have mercy on us...". Then - as is the custom at St Patrick's when the choir is singing a long Mass, whatever the modern rubrics may dictate - he and everyone else then sat down, while the choir sang the Kyrie and Gloria from Victoria's Missa O quam gloriosum (a regular item in their repertoire). His Grace at the end of the Gloria (which strangely he did not intone, though with his good voice he could have) rose, and then sang the Collect.

The Liturgy of the Word was the first place in which I think an improvement could have been made. The first and second readings were read well by a nice lady, but really to have a vested lector do it would have been better - she was willy-nilly the token female in the sanctuary for sure! She was escorted up and down the stairs by one of the servers, bowing to His Grace and so forth as is good etiquette. The responsorial psalm was led and sung by the cantor, to a not unpleasant modern tune (from the CWB, no. 590). The Alleluia and versicle were likewise led and sung by him, but the choir added a final Alleluia from Purcell; meanwhile, the priest assisting the Archbishop played deacon - as he did throughout, except when offering up the Sacrifice of course! - and received his blessing after incense was blessed, and then processed to the handsome brass eagle lectern (by the pillar in front of the altar on the gospel side) with cerifers and thurifer as per usual, first retrieving the Gospel Book from the altar, where it had been laid at the start of the Mass. He sang the initial and final versicles, but read the pericope itself. Irritatingly, he again marched about heaving the Book high in the air, and at the end lifted the Book up as if to proffer it for veneration; no one sat till he had carried it back to the Archbishop for him to kiss it, as is right.

His Grace then reassumed his mitre (having held his crozier during the Gospel) and went to the lectern to preach - he very rarely preaches seated at his cathedra, except for ordinations, etc., despite this being liturgically more appropriate. Surprisingly, it was a short and very straightforward homily; normally, Hart tends to have such an embarrassment of riches in terms of content that his sermons are hard to remember, though very good.

The Creed, spoken, followed - obviously it would be better if this were sung, but this is never done, alas: I recall that the CWB includes Credo III.

An explanation for the brevity of the homily: His Grace then came with some of his ministers to before the altar, to bless and admit new choristers and new leaders of the choir. For each there was a question and response, then came a prayer, the blessing of choir medallions with holy water and a final blessing, all obviously modelled on the institution of lectors and acolytes. All well and good, but I must say I no longer entirely like such ceremonies, however good, inserted into the Mass (as these days is done with Baptism, Confirmation, etc. - and, of course, as has always been done with Holy Orders, but arguably the latter has a special intrinsic link with Mass).

The Prayers of the Faithful followed; the nice lady returned and read the nice short undidactic petitions, eight of them, while His Grace introduced the whole ritual and concluded it with a prayer. Notably, as the CWB provides (no. 571) and as is always done at the Cathedral, the cantor sang "Let us pray to the Lord" after each petition, all responding in song "Lord, hear our prayer".

The Offertory followed. There was an Offertory procession (while it was mustered, the altar was set), and the rite continued as per usual once His Grace and ministers, in front of the altar, had received the gifts brought up. The incensation of the elements, the altar, the crucifix, His Grace, the clergy and people was fulsome - as he always does, Hart censed the oblata in the old manner, with three signs of the cross and three circling swings. Meanwhile the choir sang the motet Surrexit Pastor bonus by Lassus. The "Pray, brethren..." was spoken, the Prayer over the Gifts sung.

His Grace then sang the usual dialogue before the Preface, and the Preface itself. The Sanctus was mainly in English, using the plainchant music of Mass XVIII, but the final Hosanna in excelsis was an extract from Victoria's Mass O quam gloriosum, sung by the choir in Latin. In the meantime, the thurifer and four torchbearers processed in from the sacristy (at the back of the south transept) and took their positions: the torchbearers in front of the altar, and the thurifer behind it (if there had been a deacon, he would have done the censing at the impending elevations). During the Eucharistic Prayer the incense went up continually in a great spreading pillar of cloud, as is the norm in Melbourne - to digress, at one Cathedral Mass the enthused thurifer put so many coals in the censer that it cracked from the heat and fiery combustion of the incense, to the fury of the sacristan!

Eucharistic Prayer III was used, spoken in English: unlike some I see this prayer as of course orthodox per se and legitimately approved, whatever may be said of the untraditional invention of new 'canons' like this; it is in my opinion (especially with reference to the Latin) the best of the new prayers. The emeritus Archbishop Little having just died, the appropriate inserts for Masses for the Dead were used - query: are they for use at any Mass pro opportunitate, or should they only be used at a Requiem? All was done very correctly; at the elevations, His Grace turned to the north and south transept when showing the Host (shades of the old Papal Mass!) - years ago, at an ordination Mass at a Melbourne church, I saw him, then an auxiliary bishop, do a complete circle while elevating the Host, so that all arrayed about might see, worship and adore; but I think he may have decided that that was a bit OTT ("over the top"). As he was accompanied by one priest, that priest read that part of the prayer given normally to concelebrants. The Memorial Acclamation (a most unfortunate innovation, only loosely based on Coptic Rite analogies, etc.) and 'Great' Amen (that fond invention of modern liturgists based on one slender text of St Jerome) were sung in English, but the choir tacked on a polyphonic Amen, salvaged from the unused Credo of Victoria's Mass. The torchbearers (and thurifer, of course) left during the 'Great' Amen, as is done in the modern form of the Roman Rite, rather than remaining until after Communion, as in the traditional form.

The Lord's Prayer, Embolism, Prayer for Peace, "The peace of the Lord be with you always", and "Offer each other the sign of peace" were all sung: the last-named, by the priest, qua deacon, at the lectern! The usual restrained exchange of handshakes followed among the congregation. Then the choir quickly took up the Latin Agnus Dei, singing the first and third lines from Mass XVIII, and the middle line from Victoria's setting. (This was probably done to save time, since else the "This is the Lamb of God..." would have been unduly delayed.)

His Grace thereupon made the invitation to communion, to which all responded, and then proceeded to give the Sacrament to the ministers and people. The M.C. and the other priest also assisted in distributing Holy Communion, as did the cantor, who presumably is an extraordinary minister thereof. (No communion plate was used.) At St Patrick's, communion is never given to the laity from the chalice, as this would entail an impractical number of chalices and extraordinary ministers, to the detriment of proper understanding of liturgical roles and the doctrine of concomitance. (I seem to recall that the M.C., or perhaps another, went up to the tabernacle at the old high altar and back to get the needed ciboria of extra Hosts.)

The aforementioned schola sang the Gregorian Communion Ego sum pastor bonus, adding a psalm-verse and then repeating the antiphon, just as they had done with the Introit. After that, all were invited to sing together CWB no. 685, "Gift of finest wheat", a passable Eucharistic hymn from one of the Eucharistic Congresses held in America in the immediate postconciliar period.

The Prayer after Communion was sung; only then, as the Novus Ordo provides - and not, as is frequently done incorrectly, before the Prayer - a brief notice was given by His Grace about the upcoming funeral of Archbishop Little. Then he sang "The Lord be with you... Blessed be the name of the Lord... Our help is in the name of the Lord... May almighty God bless you...", imparting the triple episcopal blessing, turning to each transept as well. The priest concelebrating, again acting as deacon, from the lectern sang the dismissal, in English.

The recessional hymn was the rousing "Hail Redeemer, King Divine" (CWB no. 703). As first the choir, then the Archbishop and his ministers processed out down the nave as they had came, His Grace blessed the good folk as he went.

After the hymn, the organist played Bach's Prelude in G (BWV 541). The solemn liturgy concluded at about 12.15pm, so lasting an hour and a quarter - just as the Missa cantata at my own church does! (I think Fr Rowe preaches longer sermons.)

My father's comment: I would have brought a packed lunch! (I think he found it a little long...)

******

Suggested improvements to what was basically the Novus Ordo at its best and at its conservative limit in Australia, in rough order of do-ability:

* Above all, Mass ad orientem: the new altar has a large footpace all round it sufficient to allow Mass to be said facing liturgical East, and this in my opinion is the next big reform of the reform to be broached. It would greatly, grandly stress the sacrificial, aweful, mysterious, hieratic cultus of the Mass as divine worship.

* An instituted, vested lector to read, rather than a token layperson; after all, the hordes in the sanctuary are all men in vestments, and this ought need no apology.

* The Gospel sung (by a deacon, there's usually one present or available).

* The Creed sung.

* The deacon to read (sing?) the petitions of the Intercessions - it is completely silly and a bit of tokenism to take this his proper ministry away from the deacon and give it to a layperson, who fits in among the hordes of vested men about as much as a pork-chop in a synagogue.

* Gregorian Propers: at least the Offertory, and possibly the Gradual and Alleluia; would anyone really miss the Responsorial Psalm, that "exercise in short-term memory" that just hasn't worked out very well in practice ever since its introduction?

* More Latin! (Until the late nineteen nineties, just before I first moved to Melbourne, there had been a Novus Ordo Latin Mass at the Cathedral every Sunday since the liturgical reforms, but sadly it was given up.)

* Some sort of improvement so that the integral Mass setting of Victoria, say, could be sung: this would mean, above all, reciting the Eucharistic Prayer silently while the Sanctus and Benedictus roll forth... (This requires rubrical adjustments, an enrichment of the ordinary form by the extraordinary.)